Dan Simkowitz, co-president of Morgan Stanley, said the UAE's IPO market has come to a complete standstill this year, with zero new listings recorded so far in 2026 amid regional instability tied to the US-Iran conflict that began on February 28.
Simkowitz said the conflict "creates a higher and temporary risk premium" rather than altering investors' long-term outlook, and predicted that once regional tensions ease, the UAE's IPO pipeline will rebound and credit markets will keep expanding. UAE companies raised a combined $1.1 billion through three IPOs in 2025. Gulf debt capital markets reached $1.2 trillion outstanding in the first half of 2026, and more than $100 billion has been raised in regional debt markets so far this year.
The World Bank has projected Gulf economies will contract 4.3 per cent this year, with a return to growth contingent on the normalisation of regional shipping activity. Morgan Stanley, which employs more than 100 staff in the region and opened an Abu Dhabi office in 2024, described the UAE as one of the most important AI players in the world relative to its GDP and wealth.